H.S. Swimming: East Lyme tops NFA, grabs share of ECC title

Saturday

Feb 27, 2010 at 12:01 AMFeb 27, 2010 at 7:04 AM

This is a strange time of year for the East Lyme swimming and diving team.

This is a strange time of year for the East Lyme swimming and diving team.

At various stages of tapering — or in other words, reducing the distances swam — team members are priming themselves for next week’s Eastern Connecticut Conference championship as well as the subsequent state championship.

But first things first: East Lyme needed to beat Norwich Free Academy to secure a share of the conference title.

The Vikings did just that, 122-63, on Friday to improve to 11-1 in the league (12-2 overall).

“I didn’t expect that this team would be as good as it is,” Vikings coach Jack Stabach said. “They have exceeded my expectations for sure. The younger kids have really stepped up, the older kids have held their own and they’ve worked really hard and they believe in themselves now.

“They believe they have what it takes to be champions. Now it’s a matter of them all getting it together and going after it (next) Saturday.”

Helping East Lyme go after it was an exhibition portion of the meet against Wethersfield, which joined the Vikings and Wildcats.

Stabach said it was as a great way to tune up for the upcoming championships. Having three teams provided two heats for each race, and the younger swimmers — 16 of the 32 who didn’t qualify for the conference meet — tapered in preparation for Friday. Many posted personal-best times, the Vikings coach said.

Andrew Bi took off nearly seven seconds on his time in the 100 breaststroke. Billy Dumais in the 500 freestyle, Leo Pelletier (200 free), Sam Magna and Adam Opsahl (100 breast) and Jacob Mauthe (100 back) were among those who stood out Friday.

Since a taper lasts two to three weeks, depending upon the swimmer, it’s difficult to use this latest performance as a measuring stick. What the Vikings wanted to see was how different swimmers did in events they weren’t accustomed to, adding extra focus on the technical aspect of their performance.

When the swimmers begin to get antsy and have more energy than usual, it’s a clear sign the taper has taken root.

“During warm-up, we’re like, ‘Yeah,’ said Mauthe, a co-captain. “Then the first set hits and we’re like, ‘Oh no.’ It’s hard to push yourself the last week or two.”

But what matters most is next week’s ECC championship. Another co-captain, Andy Chen, said East Lyme is better prepared for a potential showdown with Fitch.

The Falcons (11-1, 10-1) swim against winless New London on Tuesday for its chance to claim a share of the league title.

“The first time we went against them, we weren’t really ready for them,” he said of a loss on Jan. 12.

Said Mauthe: “We knew coming into the season that it was going to be tough beating them. When we lost to them in the beginning of the season, we hadn’t built up our endurance as much as we could have. It really helped us to go back and beat them later on (on Feb. 9) because we did put in the time after that and worked hard to beat them.”

Sticking with it

It was a different story for NFA (4-8, 6-8), which endured a trying season having it lost its facility with the closing of the Norwich YMCA. Yet, 17 student-athletes stuck with the team from start to finish, including bus rides to Windham High School for practices. Six days a week, and usually until 8 p.m., the situation took its toll. Still, the Wildcats feel they are making strides.

“They swam really well and they swam great (Friday), so I’m looking forward to the ECC meet,” NFA coach Tom Theve said. “I think, with any luck, we’re going to surprise some people.”

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